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Monday, May 20, 2013

The Baseball Historian's Notes for May 20, 2013

I had such a good time going over baseball history links last week that
I decided to do it again! Here’s hoping this can become a regular feature, as
the cool nuggets just continue to pile up. I’ll try to continue bringing a
blend of topics to keep it fresh and interesting. As usual, thanks for reading!

***Baseball has had a lot of mascots over the years, ranging from
obnoxious to downright entertaining. But none were more buxom or lascivious
than Morganna, the Kissing Bandit.

The well-endowed exotic dancer became an unofficial mascot of sorts
after she jumped from the stands at Riverfront Stadium in 1970 and kissed
Cincinnati Reds’ star Pete Rose. Over the next several decades, she repeated
her act numerous times at baseball games and other sporting events, earning
nicknames, admirers and citations from local police.

Recently, a wonderful short
film was produced telling the true story of the grand dame of field
rushers. Among the most famous MLB recipients of her smooches included Nolan
Ryan, Johnny Bench and Cal Ripken Jr. Love her or simply lust for her, she was
unlike anything baseball has ever seen, before or since.

***Earlier this month, NBA player Jason Collins publicly came
out as a gay man and was recognized as the first professional athlete to do
so. With their always being an emphasis on identifying who was the first to do
what in our society, the stories of those who simply tried can often be left by
the wayside. That appears to be the case with gay athletes.

ESPN.com’s
Rick Reilly recently wrote a terrific article about how former major league
outfielder Glenn Burke tried to come out during his career, but was
unceremoniously stuffed back into the closet.

During a four-year major league career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and
Oakland A’s in the late 1970s, Burke openly lived as a gay man. Unfortunately,
as time went on, intolerance grew from other players and team management. The
Dodgers even reportedly offered him $75,000 to marry a woman; and offer Burke
left on the table.

Burke, who died in 1995 of AIDS, never saw the kind of acceptance
Collins is currently receiving. However, as Reilly demonstrates, it’s important
to remember his legacy and the path he started to pave for those who have and
will go after him.

***In a random bit of baseball history, check out this clip of Vladimir
Guerrero’s first major
league home run. The blast came on September 21, 1996 against Mark Wohlers
and the Atlanta Braves. It was a quintessential home run for Guerrero, who was
playing for the Montreal Expos at the time. He golfed a pitch that was low and
outside over the fence in right field. Everything, from the pitch location to
the wild wind-up swing, is classic Guerrero and representative of his style at
the plate.

Guerrero has played in the majors for all or parts of 16 seasons, and
hit 449 home runs during that time. Although he hasn’t been on a major league
roster since 2011, he may not be done quite yet, as he recently
signed to play independent ball. Even if he hits another home run, it’s
hard to imagine it will beat the feeling he must have had with his first.

***The Jackie Robinson biopic 42 has
earned rave reviews at the box office, but not everyone is happy with the
content of the film. Sherrill Duessterhaus, the daughter of former major league
pitcher Fred Ostermueller is outraged
about how her father is portrayed in the movie.

Ostermueller is shown taunting Robinson before throwing a pitch at his
head, which causes a brawl to break out. While there was an instance in 1947
when he did hit Robinson with a pitch, there is no evidence to suggest the
theatrics shown in the movie.

Hollywood enhances “true stories” all the time for dramatic effect, but
when it comes making such negative depictions, the onus should be on the
filmmakers to make sure they can back up their version of events.

***Talk about nosebleed seats! Take a gander at this amazing picture of college students looking
down on a game of the 1960 World Series at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh between
the Pirates and the New York Yankees. While they may have missed out on seeing
the intricacies of the game, at least the seats were free.

***Hall of Famer Honus Wagner wasn’t only one of the greatest
shortstops of all time; he was also a pretty intimidating lawman. CBSSports.com’s
Dayn Parry wrote about how Wagner became the deputy sheriff of Allegheny
County in Pennsylvania in 1942, when the former player was 68.

The article not only is a great tidbit of history about one of
baseball’s iconic players, but also includes a pretty amazing photo of Wagner
doing his best Dirty Harry impression; 30 years before there was a Dirty Harry.

***Bo Jackson is one of the best athletes to ever step on a field. When
he was a student at Auburn University, he played baseball in addition to the
Heisman Trophy-worthy work he did on the gridiron.

The Kansas City Royals made Jackson a fourth-round draft pick in 1986
despite his proclivity for football. His selection was made in part because of this scouting report from April,
1985, which left the evaluator nearly at a loss for adjectives when trying to
describe the youngster’s ability.

Jackson had a good, but not great baseball career. However, he never
dedicated himself to the game full-time until after he was severely injured
playing football, making him one of baseball’s great what-if questions.

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